A Gift of Time and Space

One of the greatest gifts of being a teacher is a snow day--and not just because I get to sleep late.  I love the gift of time and space that a snow day brings. 

Instead of seeing the inconvenience of needing to get groceries in the crowds and then being trapped at my house, I appreciate the open space the storm creates.  In a storm, especially one predicted to be as nasty as the one currently blanketing much of New England, I can't run around and try to do too much--which might be my natural tendency on any other day when I am not at work.  It would be too physically dangerous in the midst of a blizzard.

As I sit here on my sofa, having crossed a few tasks off each to-do list I have, but also having watched a show that has been sitting on my DVR and having stared out the window a bit and having talked to my mom, and having given the dog a good scratch--none of which I would have planned to do if I had known I was going to have all these hours of time I didn't expect to have--I am appreciating the sense of space I suddenly feel. Why is it so hard to find this without the storm?  Why do I have to be surprised into keeping time free?

Here's what usually gets in my way: I find it so easy to get caught up in all the things I want to get done--or need to get done--and I plan (or overplan) any "open" space until it's no longer space.  When I have time "free" on the weekend--I plan brunch with friends, I schedule a hair cut, I go food shopping.  That is not the kind of free time I need more of.  What I want is time when I don't have a plan or the pressure to move through any checklist.  I want the freedom to decide what to do based on what I want to do right now--not on the plan.  Yesterday afternoon, I came home from work knowing school was cancelled today.  I ditched my plan to go run at the gym--because I knew I could fit it in today if I needed to.  I came home and cooked.  I just felt like hunkering down and doing some baking--so I did. 

There is something freeing about this gift of time--I can't waste it because I didn't have anything planned.  Even if I sat down and stared into space for a few hours, that's not a waste of this time I didn't think I would ever have. All of this has me thinking about how much pressure it creates to plan every spare minute or even to keep a running list of things to do if I get a spare minute.  Sometimes it pays to ditch the to-do lists and just do what I want, right now.  Thank you mother nature for this reminder.